Disclosure Log

Message from Nottinghamshire County Council - 03 April 2025

Dear ***** *****,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION REFERENCE FOI/5566

Thank you for your request for information relating to High Needs Learner Funding.

We are now able to provide the following information:

1. Does the Council fund High Needs learners at Further Education Colleges in its region A High Needs Learner is a learner with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
              Yes, but please note that in Nottinghamshire High Needs learners are defined by actual support costs rather  than EHCP status. We have some young people without EHCPs who meet the threshold and some with EHCPs  who do not although the majority of High Needs Funding recipients do have EHCPs.
2. If so, please could you list out the Further Education Colleges whose high needs learners it is funding for the 2024/25 academic year.
              West Notts College and Inspire College. We also have High Needs learners in other LA mainstream colleges. Names and numbers are provided in response to question 3 below.
3. Please provide indicative number of High Needs Learners at each college for the 2024/25 academic year.
West Nottinghamshire College:  202
Inspire College:  65
Nottingham College:  30
The RNN Group:  57
Loughborough College  14
Confetti Creative Institute:  34
Derby College: 17
- In addition to the institutions above we have very small numbers at other mainstream colleges – probably around 10 in total .
4. Please briefly state how the total funded cost (i.e. elements 2 and 3) for each learner is agreed with each college (e.g. is there a detailed costing template,are a learnera™s costs allocated in a banding system).
Assessments are carried out by the college and Element 3 charged to the LA where the learner lives. In accordance with the High Needs Funding Guidance we do not pay E2 costs for learners placed in other LA institutions and fulfil our responsibility for commissioning adequate numbers of E2 places for all LAs for the two institutions based in Nottinghamshire
5. If the Council uses a banding system to manage the value of element 3, please could you list the values of the bands (e.g. £1,000, £2,000 etc).
              No banding system is used
6. Does the Council prescribe the costing methodology (i.e. what costs are eligible for funding, and which are not),are these set by the college
              Not formally but we have regular meetings with our own two FE institutions and with those out of area where we have a significant number of learners so there is clear understanding of our expectations.
7. Does the Council provide a specific costing template,is the costing format at the discretion of the college
              No
8. In determining the High Needs learnera™s costs, do you prescribe / set elements of the costs (e.g. hourly rate for learning support assistants),are they provided at the discretion of the college
No
9. If the Council does set / prescribe the cost elements, which elements do you prescribe (e.g. hourly rate for Learning Support Assistants, hourly rate for tuition, administration fees etc).
N/A
10. If the Council does prescribe / set someall of the costing elements, please set out the prescribed rates in £ for 2023/24 and 2024/25 (e.g. Hourly rate for Learning Support Assistants is £15, hourly rate for tuition is £50 etc). Of particular interest is the hourly rate for Learning Support Assistants a" please ensure this is included.
N/A
11. If the Council does prescribe / set someall of the costing elements, please set out the planned prescribed rates in £ for 2025/26 if available (e.g. Hourly rate for Learning Support Assistants is £15, hourly rate for tuition is £50 etc). Of particular interest is the hourly rate for Learning Support Assistants a" please ensure this is included.
Many thanks for providing this valuable information.
N/A

We trust this now satisfies your request and that you find this information to be helpful, however if you are unhappy with the way in which your request has been handled, then please email us at [email protected] quoting the reference FOI/5566 and we will be happy to review your request

For future reference, Nottinghamshire County Council regularly publishes previous FOI requests and answers on its website, under Disclosure logs, that may provide details relating to your query. (see link) Your privacy: we use your personal information such as name and address so that we can comply with our legal obligations to respond to FOI requests.  For further details about the use of information about you, please see the information handling privacy notice on our website at https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/4323566/informationgovernanceandinformationrightsprivacynotice.pdf

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review.   Requests should be submitted within 40 working days of the date of receipt of the response to your original request and should be addressed to: Complaints and Information Team, Nottinghamshire County Council, County Hall, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, NOTTINGHAM, NG2 7QP or [email protected].

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, WILMSLOW, SK9 5AF or